All of us had a busy summer because our parents were coming to visit. One day we were hanging out at Sree and Shikhar’s house and decided to make a plan to go to the beach sometime around the end of September or the beginning of October. We called Ravi and Anuja on the phone to ask if they wanted to join us. Then we all started looking for cheap tickets to anywhere in Europe from Amsterdam. We saw a few other options, but ultimately we booked 3-day return tickets to Mallorca. We had not even done any research on the place before booking the flights. Later, when we started reading blogs and itineraries about Mallorca, we realised that we did not have enough time to see much of the enormous island. Finally, we preponed the tickets by two days and reserved lodging for those two days.
Day 0 – 27 September 2022
We had an afternoon flight to Mallorca. We arrived at 8 p.m. and picked up the two rental cars that we had reserved at the airport. We found an Indian restaurant in Palma and decided to eat there. After dinner, we walked around a bit in the area and explored some of the shops near the beaches. Sree and Anuja bought dresses, while I bought some bracelets. We drove for about an hour after shopping to reach Apartamentos Siesta I at around 11 p.m., a studio apartment near Alcudia Beach in northwestern Mallorca.
Day 1 – 28 September 2022
We got ready and left our home by 10 a.m. Western Mallorca has a lot of cliff beaches and old villages. So our plan for the day was to visit some famous towns and end the day by watching the sunset on a beach.
We took the long route to the first town to enjoy the Coll Dels Reis, a single winding road designed by Italian-Spanish engineer Antonio Parietti and opened in 1933. It features many hairpin bends and a 270° spiral bridge called the tie knot. Unconventionally, the road was engineered with tourists in mind. It is a popular destination for coach trips and road cyclists. We stopped at a few of the spots on the road and took pictures.
Our first main stop was Fonalutx, a mountain village nestled high up the Tramuntana mountain range overlooking Sóller. Often referred to as the prettiest village in Spain, the stone buildings and red-tiled roofs combine with the scent of the surrounding orange and lemon groves to provide a traditional rustic charm. Its history dates back over 1,000 years when it was originally an Arab farmstead. Its current, unspoiled form started taking shape in the 13th century with the Catalan conquests. The effort to maintain the traditional look and feel, from the cobbled streets to the traditional façades, has created one of the best-preserved villages in Spain and has been given awards for conservation since the 1980s. We walked around the narrow streets, admiring the architecture of the village. It was around lunchtime, so we bought some pizza to go from the grocery store before leaving which was the worst pizza we had.
Next, we went to Valldemosa, which is a picturesque town tucked away in the Tramuntana Mountains of Mallorca. The town centre comprises stone buildings accented with green-painted shutters and narrow cobbled streets lined with potted plants. Nearly every residence sports a colourful tile depicting the life of Santa Catalina Thomás (Catherine of Palma), the canonised saint born in Valldemossa in 1533. We explored the town without much of a plan and stumbled across some of the beauties of the village. By the end of our exploration, we were quite hungry. On Google, we discovered a highly-rated restaurant called Can Uetam and had a proper lunch in the evening.
Finally, we wanted to see the sunset from a beach, so we drove to Cala Deià, a tiny cove beach just outside of the mountain village of Deia. The beach is only about 70 metres long and is mostly small pebbles and large rocks. When we reached the cove, we realised that the sun would not be visible from the cove, so we decided to just go back to our apartment.
On the way, we saw a cliff where the sunset was visible and there was some space to park the car. So we stopped and enjoyed the sunset before going back.
We went back to our rooms and took some rest. Then we decided to meet up and go for a walk around the place. We ended up walking to Playa d’Alcudia, Mallorca’s longest and largest beach, which is 7 kilometres long and up to 200 metres wide. We sat under the stars and enjoyed the view. It was cold, but the scenery and vibe were calm and relaxing. Shree, Shikhar, and Ravi bought some rolls for us to eat from a Middle Eastern restaurant they had spotted on the way.
Day 2 – 29 September 2022
Shikhar, Shree, Rishi & I wanted to see the sunrise while Ravi & Anuja wanted to enjoy the swimming pool on the property. So, the 4 of us woke up at 4:30 am and went on a long drive to Formentor Peninsula which is a narrow, mountainous peninsula celebrated for its magnificent viewpoints and hidden coves.
We drove to the lighthouse called Faro De Formentor to see the sunrise. It is an active lighthouse on the Spanish island of Majorca. It is the highest lighthouse in the Balearic Islands with a focal height of 210 metres above sea level, built in 1863, located on high cliffs at the tip of Cap de Formentor. The sky was a little cloudy so we couldn’t see the sun rising from the water. But the view around the lighthouse was so captivating that waking up early was worth it.
After sunrise, we drove back through the narrow, 20km winding road where we stopped at some of the viewpoints that gave us stunning panoramic, crossing breathtaking landscapes, towering cliffs and coves.
We then stopped at Mirador Es Colomer, which is a beautiful viewpoint. One of the most well-known photos of Mallorca, if not the most, is the stunning view of the wild peninsula of Cap Formentor on Mallorca’s northern coast from Mirador Es Colomer. It was built in 1961. It is a 200-metre-long vertical wall framed by the bare and vertical walls of the Sierra del Cavallo Bernat. The blue of the sea stretches all over, where the small island of Colomer stands out. There are different viewpoints, of which the last one is the most spectacular.
After our early morning adventure, we came back to our apartment, packed our bags and checked out of Apartamentos Siesta I.
We drove to the beach of Camp De Mar, which is a popular, sophisticated beach area surrounded by small, exclusive hotels. By the time we reached the beach, we were hungry. There is a well-serviced, beautifully clean beach area with a little wooden bridge that stretches towards a rocky islet called La Illeta. We enjoyed the food and drink at the little cabana. Some parts of the song “Besharam Rang” from Pathaan were shot on this bridge & the restaurant. If only the song came out before our visit, we would have tried to recreate Deepika’s pose.
We had booked a half-day boat trip from Palma de Mallorca and spent the second half of our day on the boat. We departed on a sailboat with 10–12 seats for 4 hours. We relaxed and enjoyed ourselves on the ride. At some point, the boat stopped so people could swim and dive to enjoy the surroundings. Since Rishi knows a little swimming and I don’t, we wore life jackets before going into the sea. The waves were too strong for us to manage, so after trying for a while, we came up and soaked up the sun. Ravi, Anuja, and Shikhar enjoyed swimming in the open sea. Later, they served us a light drink and some refreshments.
By the time we returned to Palma, it was already dark. We parked our car in one of the spots near the city centre and roamed around before going to our new hotel in East Mallorca.
Day 3 – 30 September 2022
We were staying at Aparthotel VIVA Cala Mesquida Resort & Spa for the rest of the trip. It is situated on the stunning beach of Cala Mesquida. The campus was filled with children since they are kid-friendly and have lots of activities for the entire family. The hotel has two open-air pools for all their guests and a pirate ship-shaped pool for the kids. Their Balneum Spa & Wellness area offered an even wider range of services for us. It was a rainy morning, so as soon as the spa area opened up, we went there and relaxed in the Jacuzzi and various spa rooms.
In the afternoon, we drove to La Propia and ate lots of empanadas. The staff were friendly and accommodating. The selection of empanadas was really good and delicious.
We then went to Cuevas Del Drach, which is a cluster of four caves having a depth of 25 m and approximately 4 km in length. The four caves, called Black Cave, White Cave, Cave of Luis Salvador, and Cave of the French, are connected to each other. It is one of the largest caves in Europe. The tour of the cave took approximately one hour. The path took us through a striking underworld full of stalactites and stalagmites. The lights enhanced the scenery, which included an underground river that led to the huge lake-filled cavern. The highlight of the tour of the Cuevas del Drach was a live underground concert. An auditorium has been created on the banks of Martel Lake, especially for this purpose, which offers space for around 1,100 visitors. At the beginning of the performance, the cave was darkened, and the musicians glided past us in illuminated boats. A musical quartet played some famous classical pieces before the boats disappeared again in the dark. After the concert, we had the opportunity to take a boat trip across Martel Lake. The line was huge, so a lot of people left on foot. We had seen St. Beatus Caves in Switzerland, which was also a limestone cave, so we were not as mesmerised by it. We had thought that the tour would be on a boat, so we were very excited, but we found out that the tour was on foot and the boat ride was for around 2–3 minutes. It was a little disappointing since we had not researched a lot about the tour and had false expectations, but in the end, the concert lessened our disappointment.
Finally, we decided to chill at a beach. So we drove to Cala Anguilla, which is located deep inside a beautiful bay with cliffs on both sides. The beach is only 50 metres wide but makes up for it by being 120 metres long. The sand is light and fine, and the water is incredibly clear with gorgeous turquoise shades. There was one restaurant with a view of the beach, so we ordered Sangria and enjoyed the view. We also climbed the cliff on the other side where we clicked lots of pictures.
We decided to have dinner at our hotel, so we drove back there. When we asked for a table for six, they told us dinner was possible only through reservations, and they were already booked. We wanted to eat the Spanish dish paella, so we went in search of that. But in most of the places, we had to prebook. So after lots of going around to different places, we gave up and went to a restaurant called Träumeria Son Moll near Cala Ratjada. We ordered some pizza and pasta, along with some drinks.
After returning to our hotel, Rishi & Shikhar decided to play some Table Tennis and even tried to teach me how to play.
Day 4 – 1 October 2022
Ravi and Anuja wanted to enjoy the property and go beach-hopping. The rest of us wanted to visit a few spots in southeast Mallorca. So we spent the day separately, and everyone enjoyed their day as they wanted to.
Our first stop was Es Pontas, which translates to “the big bridge” in Catalan and is a natural arch located on Mallorca’s southeastern coast, between the Cala Santanyí and the Cala Llombards. To reach the lookout, we had to take a short walk through rocky terrain. On the way to Mirador Es Pontas, we noticed a strange stone sculpture. It was created in 1995, the first in Europe, by the artist Rolf Schaffner. We had a fantastic view of the rock and the rugged coastline along the sea.
By the time we were done, it was already lunchtime, so we decided to eat before heading towards the beach. We drove to the pretty town called Santanyí. It was Saturday, so we had a lot of problems finding a parking spot in the town. After parking, we walked around the town in search of paella because we hadn’t eaten it the previous day and it was on our bucket list. Since it was Saturday, there was a huge street market in the town centre. After going to 3–4 restaurants, we finally found one serving paella. The restaurant was called Bar Sa Place, and it did not have a very high rating on Google. But we were tired and wanted to just eat and go to the beach, so we decided to stay. We ordered two paellas, both of which were quite tasty. Rishi didn’t enjoy it as much as the rest of us since it had lots of seafood.
After lunch, we went to Cala S’Almunia which is a small cove of rocks and crystalline waters. Cala s’Almunia is divided into two bathing areas. The first is next to the jetty and the small houses built on the rocks, and the second, on the opposite side, where Cala es Maquer is located, is a small stretch of sand and rocks. It is also a beach for nudists and cliff jumpers. We stayed in the water for quite some time. We explored both sides of the bathing area and also climbed some rock formations.
We had thought that Cala s’Almunia was the famous Calo Des Moro but later found a walking trail leading to the actual Calo Des Moro. It is a beautiful cove of sand and rocks. It is considered one of the most beautiful coves in Mallorca. The cove itself is a sea inlet of just over 100 m, enclosed between pine-covered cliffs and scrubland. The beach area is a small, sandy area about 45 m long and between 10 and 20 m wide, depending on the impact of the storms. Under normal conditions, the waters are the clearest turquoise colour. The water was shallow and crystal clear. We spent the rest of our day in the water, floating in the calm sea. There were viewpoints above the beach where we took pictures while returning.
We then drove back to Santanyí and decided to eat something light before going back to our hotel. We went to Es Vinyet, which was suggested to us by someone as the best paella place, but we could not find the restaurant in the afternoon. We ended up ordering a pizza, which was quite tasty.
Finally, we drove back to our hotel. By the time we reached the hotel, the buffet dinner getting served was over. So we met at the bar outside our room and ordered some snacks and drinks.
Day 5 – 2 October 2022
We got up early to see the sunrise at the hotel’s private beach. It was a cove beach, so the sun rose behind the rocks. We walked around the hotel campus and discovered some more swimming pools and an open-air jacuzzi, which we had not seen previously. Finally, we went to the spa and enjoyed the morning in the jacuzzi before leaving Mallorca!
